Flexible joint for shafts.



A. E. ZCCK.

FLEXIBLE JOINT FOR, SHAFTS.

APPLICATION E'ILED MAR.31, 1910.

@@jf Patented Jan. 17,1911.

f .wr/ENTUR.

Y2'5 l strong and durable 1n its construction, inexnnrrED sra'r-Es Parana* ortica, L

aUGU-s'r E. zoomer wA'rEnviLLn, OHIO, lissreiron To THE Warnavitnn" reaccion COMPANY, or WATERVILLE, oi-iio, A CORPORATION or OHIO.

FLEXIBLE JOINT FOR, SHAFTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application med-.March S1, 1910. Serial No. 552,683. l

Patented Jan. 1*?, 1911.

State of Ohio, have invented a certain-new -and useful Flexible Jointfor Shafts; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description .of the invention, such as will enable others skilled 1n the art to which it appertai-ns .to make'and use the same, .reference beingha'd to the accompany- A ing drawings, and to the figures of reference .marked thereon, which form apart of this specificationslll i. 1 y

. My nvention relates to flexible Or universal jointsof theclass adapted to connect the contiguous lends of' shaft sections together gforfro'tary movements in unison and to permit relative angular movements of such sec- ""tions, but is not :restricted to such useas it may be used in any connection for which 1t y' malbe adapted or appropriate e Object of my invention is 'the provi- .'sion'of an improved and highly etlicient v'joint of the class described, which is simple,

pensivev of manufacture, and which is especially adapted for use in connection with the drive shafts of motor road vehicles in thatit permits a free flexing of the shaft without affecting the driving eiliciency thereof. i

The invention is fully described inthe following specification, and a preferred embodiment of the' same illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure l is a plan view of a drive or mo- :tor shaft of a vehicle .with a portion of the associated parts and the joint 'comprising my invention associated therewith. Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are enlarged views of 'different parts of the joint, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of a shaft having my joint associated therewith with the shaft sections relatively angled and the joint partly broken away. Y*

VReferring 4to the drawings, 1 designates i the drive or motor shaft ofl a vehicle, which shaft is composed of the two sections a and b, and is shown as having one journaled in a bearing 2 carried by a frame part 3 of the Avehicle' and the other journaled in a bearing -4 carried by a frame part 4. ofthe vehicle.

Mounted on the inner endbf thesectiori a,

which, -in theprlgent instance, sthe one lat-v 9 designates'I a prolonge may be termed, a spider 6. This spider has three arms 7 projecting .radially from the end, of its hub adjacent the inner shaftend, and projectinifiom (the, louterend portion of .each 'of lsuc `arms i'n parallelism with 'the vshaft -section va Aand in. they direction of the otherfshaftsectionjs apinlS. f

` d hub or sleeve member, `winch-laas nneend keyed to the inner end of the shaft section b and its other end l,lieyond the end of such y section towar` the adjacent end lofthe other Section. The cndp-.of the member 9 adjacent the s ider 6 s formed with a plurality of radia arms-,10,1 inthe present instance three in number, which are provided with. openings 11 in'vregister with the pins 8 of-,the spider 6, A plate 12v conforming `'in shape to the armed end ofthe member 9 is secured to' such end of said member by screws, or m kany suitable manner, and has its arms 13 provided with openings ,14 in .register with the openin s 11 of the arms 10. The openings 11 an v14 have their inner ends semispherically enlar ed to ada t them to combine to receive an bers 15 therein for rotary or universal movements. Each of the ball-like members 15 has an axial opening therethrough to looselyl receive a regstening pin 8 to provide a universal bearing therefor, which permits a pin to have reciprocatory as well as oscillaretain bal -like memtory movements relative to the shaft secyond the free end of the member 9 and the attached plate 12 and has its thrust against the adjacent end of the spider 6 to act to retain the spider 6 and member 9 yieldingly spaced, as indicated.

The'shaft section b is shown, in the present instance, as carrying@l friction disk 18 `at its outer end with'the'face of which a drivenv disk 19 peripherally coacts. The

. disk 19 is shiftable on a shaft 20 toward or away from the axis 0f the disk 18 lto vary the speed of driving of the disk 19. lThe 'shaft-section b maybe shifted against the Y.

so f

- the contact of the disks 18 and 19 by a move ment'of a control-lever 21.

It isa parent that by the use' of the :form

action'of tlie sprin 1PZ-to effect ai'releaseof of tlexib e joint shown and described, the

ends of the shaft sections are'yieldingly heldv apart to permit a free flexing of the shaft, y

and the Working of the pins 8 through the balls 15 causes a positive'rotation ofthe the pins 8 and attached shaft section due to two sections in unison and at the same time permits the member 9 to oscillate relative to the free turning of the balls v15 within such `membcr. The spring 17 also acts, in the case of a frictionfdrive such as that shown, to maintain tliecoacting disks in frictional driving Contact at whatever angle the shaft mayb'e. .4 While I have illustrated my invention in connection with al particular form. of driving mechanism, I wish it understood thatthe same is not restricted to use in any par-A tieul'ar connection, and also that the inven-y tion is not limited to any specific arrangement or construction of the parts except in so far; as lsuchlimitations are specified in tlie claims. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to securebyLetf ters 'Patent, is,-

l. A joint of theclass described, compris# ing two axially spaced members, one of which has an axial socket in the inner ed i thereof, av` compression. spring mounted in said 'socketand having. its .outer end' projecting therefrom and acting on. the other :nenn ber to yieldin-gly retain said members' in spaced relation, universally'- movab1e-parts 'inner` ends provi ed with radially projecting portions and one having an axial socket 1n the inner end thereof,`means carried by said socket and ac tmgonl said members to retain them yieldingly s aced, universally rotatable parts carried y the radially prof-4 jee'ting portions of' one of said'members, and pins projecting from the radially projecting portions of the "other of 'said'nienibers and coperating with said parts to communicate rotation from one to the other of said niembers and to'lpermitsa'id members to have relative angular1no'vements- .Y

In testimony' whereof, I have hereunto -signed my name to this specification in the presence of Atwo subscribing witnesses. j

AUGUST 'E'. ZOUK. Witnesses: j i

E. TiioMAs, C. W. OWEN. 

